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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320654">The Treehouse</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luceianthecutie13/pseuds/Luceianthecutie13'>Luceianthecutie13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Brothers, Head Injury, Minor Injuries, injuries, protective Davey, we stan the good brothers, worried Les</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:53:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luceianthecutie13/pseuds/Luceianthecutie13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A normal afternoon of babysitting his little brother may lead Davey into more dangerous circumstances than he could have imagined.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>David Jacobs &amp; Les Jacobs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Treehouse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey all, it’s Lu! I’ve been part of the Newsies fandom for a bit now, and I’m finally getting around to posting something! </p>
<p>If you read this already, fear not! It was previously posted to my friend’s account (thanks love!), but I finally got around to creating my own account, so we are posting it here instead!</p>
<p>Enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took everything in David’s willpower to not scream at the top of his lungs as he trudged his way through the woods.<br/>
Les had been specifically ordered not to head toward the treehouse on his own since they had yet to check the damages from the winter.<br/>
An hour into babysitting, Davey realized his charge had been particularly quiet. A bit too quiet.<br/>
After searching the house proved to be a failure, Davey figured out where Les went.<br/>
The rapscallion had gone off to the treehouse. </p>
<p>And so Davey marched through the woods, remaining as calm as he could by counting the breaths he was taking through his nose.<br/>
Within minutes, the familiar wooden structure came into view as he passed the thicket of tree branches and into the clearing by the stream.<br/>
The ladder had been pulled up.</p>
<p>Taking care to avoid the leaves that had not decomposed under the winter’s snow, Davey silently made his way along the packed dirt until he was standing beneath the treehouse.<br/>
Looking up, he couldn’t see much through the hole in the floor, but the telltale signs of Les were abundantly clear. Small banging noises, footsteps creaking on the old wood. </p>
<p>Davey inhaled deeply, before calling up.<br/>
“Leslie Jacobs!”</p>
<p>The scuffling sounds stopped. Davey sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re up there, there is no point for you to pretend like you aren’t,” he tried again. After a moment, the small curtain drew away from the window, and Les’s head poked out.</p>
<p>“That’s no fair! You weren’t supposed to find me so quick,” the nine-year-old protested. Les’s lip was drawn down into a pathetic pout. Davey’s reply was an eyebrow raise. After a moment, Les’s head disappeared as he moved away from the window, drawing the curtains back over the space with a swish.</p>
<p>David was extremely unamused.<br/>
“If you don’t come down right now, I’m going to call Mom and Dad,” Davey warned, crossing his arms as he stood with his hip cocked. </p>
<p>“No!”</p>
<p>The seventeen-year-old was growing increasingly frustrated with his younger brother. Not only had he been disobeying their parents’ rules, he was being a stubborn little brat. Davey rubbed the heel of his hand over his forehead, trying to think of a solution. He did, after all, remember being young and could recall the appeal of adventure and fun. </p>
<p>Well, the main reason Les hadn’t been allowed was because no one had checked the condition of the wood. Even if their father wasn’t around, wasn’t Davey old enough now to test it out? </p>
<p>Perhaps that would entice the kid with a decent compromise. The treehouse was close enough to their actual house that Les wouldn’t be too far off if he needed something, and Davey would have time to read like how he had originally wanted to spend his day. </p>
<p>“If you come down here right now, I’ll check out the treehouse myself and let you play until Mom and Dad get home,” Davey tried, relaxing his stance.</p>
<p>The response a few seconds later was muffled by the wood of the treehouse.<br/>
“Promise?”</p>
<p>“I promise,” David assured.</p>
<p>After a moment, a small grating sound indicated that Les was removing the ladder from the floor and sure enough, the ladder dropped from the opening. Accompanied by Les’s shout of ‘incooommmmiiinnng’, of course.</p>
<p>Davey jumped back at the last second to avoid getting smacked in the head by the bundle of wood and rope. Once the ladder had settled enough for Davey to grab hold of it, he spoke up again.<br/>
“I’ve got it steady, come down now.”</p>
<p>Davey could hear Les’s whine all the way from the ground. “Can’t you just come up here and see it?” Les yelled down.</p>
<p>“Nope, that wasn’t our arrangement!”</p>
<p>With a loud, annoyed groan, Les began to descend the ladder. To Davey, it felt agonizingly slow. Finally, Les was far enough down that Davey could let go of the ladder. </p>
<p>Les hopped off with a huffed, frowning up at his brother. “Happy now?” he muttered, eyes glaring up Davey.</p>
<p>The older boy nodded, moving to ruffle Les’s hair. Davey sighed as the boy dodged by ducking out of the way, and he let his hand drop to his side. “Yes I am, thank you. Just stay here, and I’ll let you back up when I give you the all clear in a minute.”</p>
<p>“Whatever,” Les said with an eye roll. “Just hurry up already!” </p>
<p>Davey shook his head in fondness and exasperation, turning back to face the ladder. He climbed steadily and surely, the feeling familiar under his hands and feet.<br/>
It had been a while since he truly played in the treehouse, either by himself or with his brother. He could remember building it with his Dad when Davey was just a little older than Les was now, and a fond smile reached his lips as he contemplated that memory.</p>
<p>When Davey made it to the top of the treehouse, he was anticipating everything would be fine. Maybe a loose screw here or there, but Les had obviously already been moving around and it had seemed mostly fine from the ground. </p>
<p>Trying to stand proved to be a fruitless venture. He let out a small hiss as he bumped his head against the ceiling. Had he really grown so much since he’d last been up there? David shrugged off the thought as he began to make his way around the small space. Each step he took was careful and calculated, and he tended up at each loud creak. After making his way through most of the treehouse, he began to relax. He was sure the warnings their parents had given was precautionary. The floor seemed all right. He could hear Les grumbling, so he decided everything was in good enough shape.</p>
<p>Before he made his way back down to tell Les he could go ahead and play, something odd caught his eye in the back corner of the treehouse. Taking a few steps toward that edge, his brows furrowed in mild concern at the darkened wood taking up a good portion of the corner. Davey sighed, realizing he’d have to delay Les’s joy and instead invoke the wrath of a child. He stepped closer to investigate just how much damage had been done. Pushing against it, the soggy wood started to crumble a little under his fingertips. </p>
<p>It was worse than he’d originally thought. He added a bit more pressure, and was shocked when a good chunk of the back wall and corner of the floor gave way. The corner beam had been rotting away, well over the course of the winter, and perhaps longer. Davey took a step away from the sudden hole in the wall, eyes flicking up to the ceiling as he heard a creaking groan.</p>
<p>The roof was sagging downward as the rotted supporting beam began to give way, a couple of square feet of decomposing floor falling toward the ground. The structural integrity was far more compromised than he’d originally figured. Davey shouted for Les to run as he felt the shift under his own feet, heart thudding in his chest. </p>
<p>Before Davey could tell his body to climb down, the roof gave way completely, crashing down on top of him and nicking the already crumbling edges. The force of the heavy wood sent Davey closer to the rotten section, and their combined weight sent the rest of the treehouse toppling out of the branches in a thunderstorm of lumber. </p>
<p>The last thing Davey remembered was a painful thwack to the forehead with a rough edge of a board, splinters, and a feeling of weightlessness before everything went black.</p>
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